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Returning from its first voyage to the edge of the galaxy,
the damaged USS Enterprise journeys through the Taurus
Reach, a little-known area of space in which a new starbase
has been unexpectedly established. Puzzled by the Federation's
interest in a region so close to the borders of the Klingon
Empire and the xenophobic Tholian Assembly, Captain Kirk puts
his ship in for repairs at the space station: Starbase 47,
also known as Vanguard...
This
new series of novels has been pitched by Pocket Books as Star
Trek meets Alias. Don't expect any Sydney Bristow-style
stunts from any of the crew aboard Vanguard station, though
- it's not that much like Alias. However, what the
two series have in common are lots of people with intriguing
secrets that other people want to discover.
The
space station setting invites comparisons with Deep Space
Nine, as do a number of its shady inhabitants, both enlisted
and civilian. Like DS9, Starbase 47 is located in a political
and territorial hornets' nest: a buffer zone between the Klingon
Empire and the Tholian Assembly. A criminal, in this case
an Orion merchant-prince called Ganz, offers various unscrupulous
goods and services - for the right price - though admittedly
Ganz is a far more violent person than the Ferengi Quark ever
was. Other dubious characters include a secretive commanding
officer, Commodore Reyes; a sexed-up Vulcan, Lieutenant Commander
T'Prynn, who, in post-T'Pol style, struggles to keep her emotions
in check; an adulterous journalist, Tim Pennington; a spy;
and a thief. Unlike DS9, three starships serve and protect
the station, rather than just the one, and this facility is
top of the range and brand spanking new - though some areas
are not yet fully operational.
All
previous Star Trek spin-offs, both on TV and in print,
have used familiar characters to help launch the series and
ease fans into a new situation. For example, Pocket's Stargazer
series featured a pre-Next Generation Picard, whereas
the new Titan series includes a range of familiar names,
including the post-Next Gen Riker and Troi. Each TV
spin-off has taken the approach spoofed so well in The
Simpsons Spin-off Showcase: for instance, keep one eye
open during the pilot episode of The Next Generation,
because Doctor McCoy stops by to wish the crew luck. Vanguard
takes a similar approach: taking place during the time of
The Original Series, this first book sees Kirk and
his crew putting in for repairs, following events in the episode
Where No Man Has Gone Before.
Other,
more subtle allusions to the Trek franchise's past,
contemporary and future mythology include references to Archer-class
starships (an allusion to Star Trek: Enterprise), Scotty
acquiring his bottle of green stuff (downed in the Original
Series episode By Any Other Name), and the journalist's
surname (a reference to the Pennington School, where Jake
Sisko considered an internship to become a writer in the DS9
episode Explorers). During the course of events, we
also see the Enterprise crew switch their Where
No Man costumes for the bolder primary colours seen in
later episodes of the original series, witnessing along the
way Kirk's and Uhura's reactions to the introduction of those
infamous miniskirts.
There's a good deal of scene-setting to be done in this novel.
As a consequence, the first 120-odd pages are fairly slow
moving. However, following a chapter so dramatic it brought
genuine tears to my eyes, the pace and tension rarely let
up. For the most part, the new characters shine, though the
friendly advice and alcohol dispensed by Chief Medical Officer
Ezekiel Fisher fail to distinguish him from Doctors Boyce
and McCoy.
All
in all, however, this book is - to quote the famous joke about
lawyers, which brings a smile to Commodore Reyes' face at
one point - a good start.
Richard
McGinlay
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